Sinclair one match away from Canadian milestone

Canada’s women’s national team captain Christine Sinclair is closing in on a number of career and Canadian milestones. Should Sinclair appear in the Canada-USA match Wednesday evening in Charleston, SC she will tie Andrea Neil for first in all-time matches played for Canada. Sinclair currently sits on 131 career appearances, one behind Neil who is now an assistant coach with the women’s national team. Sinclair passed Charmaine Hooper (130) for second place on Sunday, making her 131st appearance on 19 July in Rochester.



Sinclair made her national-team debut on 12 March 2000 against China at the Algarve Cup. She was just 16 years old. She has gone on to represent Canada in two FIFA Women’s World Cups as well as at the 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament in Beijing.



Neil earned her 132nd and final appearance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007 in a 4:0 victory over Ghana. She passed Hooper for the all-time appearances two weeks earlier in an international friendly match with Japan on 30 August 2007.



Sinclair, Canada’s most recognizable player, passed another of Canada’s longstanding records surpassing Hooper for all-time starts when she made the 123rd start of her career earlier this year against New Zealand on 5 March at the Cyprus Women’s Cup.



The 22 July match between Canada and USA will close out the three-game summer mini series played between the two countries. Wednesday night’s Canada-USA match kicks off at 20.00 ET / 17.00 PT and will be broadcast by Rogers Sportsnet (all four channels).



Canadian appearances

1. Andrea Neil – 132

2. Christine Sinclair – 131

3. Charmaine Hooper – 130

4. Randee Hermus – 113

5. Amy Walsh – 102

T6. Brittany Timko – 93

T6. Diana Matheson – 93

T8. Kara Lang – 87

T8. Isabelle Morneau – 87

10. Silvana Burtini – 78